Adjustable linkage mechanism



Nov. 28, 1967 s. w. THOMPSON 3,354,730

ADJUSTABLE LINKAGE MECHANISM Filed Sept. 14, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR BY M r IqTTOR/VEY Nov. 28, 1967 s, w. THOMPSON 3,354,730

ADJUSTABLE LINKAGE MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 14, 1965 INVENTOR.

I v I ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,354,730 ADJUSTABLE LINKAGE MECHANISM Seth Waldo Thompson, 9 Gordon Road, Essex Fells, NJ. 07021 Filed Sept. 14, 1965, Ser. No. 487,291 4 (Jlaiins. (Cl. 7442) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A driving member rotates about a first axis and a driven member oscillates on a second axis parallel to the first axis and carries a shaft rotatable and axially movable on an axis parallel to the first and second axes, and a crank on the shaft is pivotally connected to the driving member and carries a pin that is engageable and disengageable upon longitudinal movement of the shaft in opposite directions respectively, with and from one of a plurality of holes in the driven member, there being a handle connected to the shaft and rotatable while the pin is disengaged so as to rotate the shaft to shift the pin selectively into register with one of said holes, said pin while seated in a hole constituting a pivotal connection between the crank and the driven member and prohibiting angular shifting of the pivotal connection bodily relative to the driven member.

This invention relates generally to the art of mechanical movements involving pivotal connection-s. It is concerned primarily with connections in which the pivot axis of the connection is shiftable to various positions of adjustment eccentric with respect to the axis of rotation of an indexing knob operative to establish different selective angular relationships between elements of the connection.

In particular the invention relates to linkage mechanism for selective adjustment of the direction and area coverage of water discharged from oscillatable head lawn sprinklers; some examples of which are, the manually operable indexing knob types shown in US. Patents 2,921,474 and 2,945,385.

Lawn sprinklers of the types above noted and as contemplated by the present invention include a water impelled motor in adjustable linkage driving connection with actuator lever means attached to the sprinkler head, by which the head is caused to oscillate while the motor is in operation. In the mechanisms of said patents a pivotal connection between driving and driven elements of the linkage is angularly adjustable by means of a manually rotatable indexing knob into selective positions which determine the direction and the area coverage of water discharged from the sprinkler head.

The ball clutch connections which establish the various adjusted positions of the selector knobs in the aforesaid patents are subject to latent disadvantages of wear and to the possiblity of fortuitous slippage between the parts which they connect. They do not provide a positive connection that cannot slip or become disengaged accidentally.

The present invention provides means which avoids the above stated disadvantages and eliminates the possibility of relative angular slippage between pivotally connected members of linkage mechanism that connects the motor and the oscillatable discharge head of an oscillating lawn sprinkler.

An object of the invention is to provide in such mechanism novel means including a locking pivot pin constituting a part of the pivotal connection and operative selec tively to shift the effective pivot axis of the connection to various positions of adjustment, whereby to regulate "Ice the direction and area coverage of water discharged from the sprinkler head.

Another object is to provide in an oscillating head lawn sprinkler a novel means including a locking pivot pin for selective adjustment of a pivotal connection between elements of the operating linkage connecting the driving motor and the water discharge head, by manipulation of a single indexing knob that is both rotatable and axially movable on and along a single axis parallel to the pivot axis of the connection.

Other and incidental objects will be apparent from the following description together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of an oscillating head lawn sprinkler equipped with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of FIG. 3, with the driving and driven members locked in positive connection.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but with the members in unlocked, disconnected position.

FIG. .6 is a view similar to FIG. 4, illustrating an alternative embodiment of the invention.

For purposes of illustration, but not restriction, the invention is shown as applied to a known type of lawn sprinkler having a ground sled support frame which mounts adjacent one end a water impelled motor 10 having its base attached to the side bars 11 of the frame and which is supplied with water from a garden hose connection, not shown. A Water discharge head comprising a sprinkler pipe 12 is mounted longitudinally in the frame for oscillation on a horizontal axis. The outer end of the pipe is journaled in an upturned end portion of the frame, and has at its inner end a hollow bearing in the face plate 13 of the motor casing, through which water from the motor is supplied to the pipe.

A crank 14 fixed on the power shaft 15 of the motor constitutes a driving member in pivotal connection with the inner end of a throw link 16 which at its outer end is arranged for selective pivotal connection, in a manner to be described, with the outer end of a driven member 17. This member is here shown as a force transmitting lever extending radially from the water discharge pipe 12 with its inner end fixedly attached thereto. The outer end of the lever 17 is formed with an enlarged circular head 18 coplanar with the flat shank of the lever. The head 18 is provided in its peripheral marginal zone with a circular series of round socket holes 19 spaced apart circumferentially around the head and extending therethrough on axes that are parallel to the axis of oscillation of the pipe 12.

The outer end of the throw link 16 has a pivotal connection, indicated generally as 20 in FIG. 3, with the the outer end of a radial crank arm 21 that is parallel to the head 18 and integral with or fixedly attached to one end of a stub shaft 22 which is rotatable in a bearing hub 23 at the center of the head. The shaft 22 extends at its ends laterally beyond the opposite side faces of the. lever head 18 and, at the end opposite the crank 21, has threaded thereon or otherwise suitably attached thereto a selector knob 24 by which the shaft 22 may be rotated to change the angular relationship between the crank arm and the lever head.

The outer end portion of throw link 16 is pivotally interconnected with the outer end portion of the crank arm 21 by means of a pivot bolt 25 having its shank 26 passed through a bore in the link and threaded into the body of the crank arm on an axis parallel to the axis of the shaft 22. The inner end of the bolt shank is formed as an integral axially extending locking pin 27 that is adapted to seat in a registering one of the complemental socket holes 19 extending through the lever head 18 and thus to provide a positive connection between the crank arm 21 and the lever head 18 on the pivot axis of the connection between the crank arm and the throw link 16. An alternative form of connection is shown in FIG. 6, in which the pin 27 is eliminated and is replaced by a locking pin 28 fixed in the crank arm 21 on an axis parallel to and between the axes of the shaft 21 and the pivot bolt 25 In this embodiment the socket holes in lever head 18 are appropriately placed for receiving and seating the inner end portion of the locking pin 28.

The series of socket holes 19 lies on the circumference of a circle that is centered on the axis of the indexing shaft 22. As here shown they are four in number and equidistantly spaced apart, but optionally may be otherwise disposed. Each represents a different setting .of the indexing knob 24 which establishes at each setting a water discharge direction and ground area coverage that is different from the others. Appropriate indicia (not shown) identifying each setting may be provided on the outer face of the knob.

In operation the elements of the connection assembly occupy the positions shown in FIG. 4, with locking pin 27 engaged and fully seated in a selected one of the socket holes 19. A washer 29 on the shaft 22 between the head 18 of the actuator lever 17 and the crank arm 21 maintains these parts in laterally spaced relation. In this position the lever head 18 and the crank arm 21 are locked against possibility of separate and/or independent rotation on the axis of the indexing shaft 22. Although both are capable of rotation on the axis of shaft 22, it is not possible for either so to rotate without corresponding rotation of the other while they are locked by the pin 27,'unless subjected to a force greater than the shear resistance of the pin. Under normal conditions of operation one cannot slip relative to the other.

When a change of setting is to be made the knob 24 is pushed inwardly, to the right in FIG. 4, to slide the shaft axially in its bearing 23 and move the crank arm 21 away from the lever head, 18 until the locking pin 27 is withdrawn entirely from its socket. In this released position of the lock the indexing knob is rotated to a selected setting, thereby effecting corresponding rotation of the crank arm 21 to bring the locking pin into axial alignment with the registering socket hole at the setting selected. Outward movement of the knob 24 correspondingly moves the shaft 22 axially in its bearing and carries the crank arm toward the lever head 18, thereby seating the locking pin in the selected socket hole of the lever head.

In one embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a coil expansion spring 30 surrounds the hub 23 and shaft 22 between opposed inner faces of the knob 24 and the lever head 18, bearing at its ends against each. This spring provides a resilient means biasing the knob outwardly and maintaining the locking pin fully seated in its socket. It serves also to move the locking pin auto- :matically to full seated position in a selected socket when :inward pressure against the knob is removed. The spring provides an audible snap action when the locking pin enters a socket. It influences the end of the pin to ride incontact over the face of the head 18 during indexing, thereby imparting a frictional drag that can be sensed through the knob 24. Although the spring loading of the locking pin will in time cause it to groove the lever head face on which it bears, such grooving cannot have any detrimental effect. The axial extent of the engagement between the pin and the wall of its socket when the pin is seated therein precludes any possibility of slippage. The end of the seated pin is too far removed from the surface of the head 18 to enter and ride along a groove in the surface of the head opening into the pin socket.

In" another embodiment .of the invention, as shown in FIG. 6, no spring is employed. It is not essential, because the locking and unlocking action of the pin 28 derives from axial shifting of the indexing shaft 22 in its bearing, irrespective of the specific means by which it is effected. In this embodiment the knob 24 is pulled out to seat the locking pin in a socket selected by rotation of the knob, and is pushed in to disengage the pin from its socket.

Also, in the FIG. 6 embodiment, the locking pin 28 is of greater length than the pin 27 previously described. The pin 28 projects axially beyond the inner face of the lever head 18 when it is fully seated in its socket hole and its length assures that it cannot accidentally slip from its socket. The extent of inward movement of the knob 24 required to disengage the pin from its socket is such that it must be intentional and cannot occur under normal operating conditions.

It will be apparent from the above detailed description and the drawings that when the locking pin is in its socket the point of pivotal connection between the throw link 16 and the crank arm 21 at the pivot bolt 25 revolves in a plane of operating revolution around the axis of the indexing shaft 22, and that the head 18 of the actuator lever 17 oscillates on the axis of the pipe 12 in a plane of oscillation parallel to the plane of revolution of the point of pivotal connection between the throw link 16 and the crank arm 21. The actual pivotal connection between the throw link 16 and the actuator lever 17 is the locking pin itself, and is eccentric to the axis of the indexing shaft 22.

When the knob 24 is moved axially to disengage the locking pin from a socket it transfers the point of pivotal connection between the throw link 16 and the crank 21 from its plane of operating revolution into a plane of idling revolution. This is an advantage in that the inward axial movement of the knob which effects removal of the locking pin from its socket, without which a selective change in setting cannot be made, disconnects the drive linkage between the motor and the water discharge pipe 12, which latter then remains stationary while the motor continues to operate the throw link 16. The disconnection immobilizes the actuator lever 17, thus making it very easy to. turn the indexing knob to a desired setting while the actuator lever head is stationary, and without cutting off water supply or otherwise stopping the motor.

Considered broadly, the end portion of throw link 16 which connects with pivot bolt 25 is a driving member which revolves in a plane of revolution around the axis of the indexing shaft 22, and the head 18 of lever 17 is.

a driven member that oscillates in a parallel plane of oscillation on the axis of the water pipe 12. The actual operating pivotal connection between these two members is the pin 27 or 28 which has the dual function of serv-.

ing both as a pivot pin and a locking pin. When the pin is seated in a socket hole it locks the crank against rotation relative to the lever head 18 and becomes the true fulcrum of the pivotal connection between the driving anddriven members. When the pin is disengaged from its socket there is a pivotal connection between the members through the shaft 22 and crank 21, but because of the fact that there is no driving connection between the freely rotating shaft and the head 18, the pivot bolt 25 simply idles in a plane of revolution around the axis or the shaft 22 and has no effect on the lever 17 which then ceases oscillation andbecomes stationary.

Further in regard to the broad aspects of the invention, it is apparent that the crank is also a driving member, regardless of the specific means which makes it so. As an alternative, the lever head 18 could be the driving member and the crank 21 the driven member.

Viewed in another aspect, and considering the assembly comprising only the elements shown in FIGS. 4-6, the invention is a unit for attachment between components of linkage to establish a selectively adjustable pivotal interconnection therebetween. It is a unit that is adapted for use in any type of lawn sprinkler in which a movable water discharge head is driven by linkage connecting it with a driving motor.

It is to be understood that the herein disclosed embodiment of my invention is illustrative of a practical example and that the invention is not restricted thereto. It may comprise any structure falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. Linkage mechanism comprising: a driving member movable in a plane of revolution around a first axis, a driven member movable in a plane of oscillation on a second axis parallel to the first axis, a shaft carried by the driven member and rotatable on an axis parallel to said first and second axes, said shaft extending outwardly from opposite sides of the driven member and being movable axially along its own axis, a crank fixed on one end of the shaft, a pivotal connection between said crank and the driving member, a pin carried by the crank and extending laterally therefrom toward said driven memher on an axis parallel to the other axes, said driven member having a series of socket holes therein complemental to the pin and spaced apart on the circumference of a circle centered on the axis of said shaft, handle means fixed on the other end of the shaft and operative to move the shaft axially in one direction to seat said pin in a registering one of the socket holes and in an opposite direction to disengage it entirely from the hole, said handle means being rotatable while the pin is disengaged whereby to rotate the shaft and its crank to shift said pin selectively into registry with another one of the socket holes, and said pin while seated in a socket hole constituting a pivotal connection between said crank and the driven member and prohibiting angular shifting of the pivotal connection bodily relative to the driven member.

2. The mechanism of claim 1, and resilient means biasing said shaft axially in a direction to cause full seating of the pin in a socket hole with which it is in registry.

3. In the mechanism of claim 2, said resilient means being a coiled expansion spring surrounding the shaft 6 between the handle means and the driven member and bearing on both.

4. An attachment for pivotally interconnecting a pail of members, comprising: a shaft movable along its own axis in one member and rotatable therein, a crank fixed on one end of the shaft, a pivot pin on the crank and extending laterally therefrom for connection with the other member, cooperative locking means on the crank and the shaft carrying member engageable upon longitudinal movement of said shaft in one direction at any of a plurality of points spaced apart on the circumference of a circle centered on the axis of the shaft upon axial movement of the shaft in one direction for locking the shaft against rotation in its carrying member, said locking means being disengageable upon axial movement of the shaft in the opposite direction, a handle on the other end of the shaft for effecting both rotation and axial movement thereof, said crank being movable upon rotation of the shaft to locate the point of engagement of the locking means at a selected point determined by rotation of the handle, and said locking means including a pivot pin operative upon engagement of the locking means to establish a pivotal connection between said crank and the shaft-carrying member, and a coiled expansion spring surrounding the shaft in the space between the handle and the shaft-carrying member and bearing on both.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 384,699 6/1888 Lee 239-242 1,696,385 12/1928 Cloes 239242 2,151,643 3/1939 Shu 7442 X 2,838,956 6/1958 Sneider 239-242 2,921,474 1/ 1960 Ballard 74-42 3,047,241 7/1962 McLhinney 239--242 FRED C. MATTERN, IR., Primary Examiner.

W. S. RATLIFF, Assistant Examiner. 

1. LINKAGE MECHANISM COMPRISING: A DRIVING MEMBER MOVABLE IN A PLANE OF REVOLUTION AROUND A FIRST AXIS, A DRIVEN MEMBER MOVABLE IN A PLANE OF OSCILLATION ON A SECOND AXIS PARALLEL TO THE FIRST AXIS, A SHAFT CARRIED BY THE DRIVEN MEMBER AND ROTATABLE ON AN AXIS PARALLEL TO SAID FIRST AND SECOND AXES, SAID SHAFT EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE DRIVEN MEMBER AND BEING MOVABLE AXIALLY ALONG ITS OWN AXIS, A CRANK FIXED ON ONE END OF THE SHAFT, A PIVOTAL CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID CRANK AND THE DRIVING MEMBER, A PIN CARRIED BY THE CRANK AND EXTENDING LATERALLY THEREFROM TOWARD SAID DRIVEM MEMBER ON AN AXIS PARALLEL TO THE OTHER AXES, SAID DRIVEN MEMBER HAVING A SERIES OF SOCKET HOLES THEREIN COMPLEMENTAL TO THE PIN AND SPACED APART ON THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF A CIRCLE CENTERED ON THE AXIS OF SAID SHAFT, HANDLE MEANS FIXES ON THE OTHER END OF THE SHAFT AND OPERATIVE TO MOVE THE SHAFT AXIALLY IN ONE DIRECTION TO SEAT SAID PIN IN A REGISTERING ONE OF THE SOCKET HOLES AND IN AN OPPOSITE DIRECTION TO DISENGAGE IT ENTIRELY FROM THE HOLE, SAID HANDLE MEANS BEING ROTATABLE WHILE THE PIN IS DISENGAGED WHEREBY TO ROTATE THE SHAFT AND IT CRANK TO SHIFT SAID PIN SELECTIVELY INTO REGISTRY WITH ANOTHER ONE OF THE SOCKET HOLES, AND SAID PIN WHILE SEATED IN A SOCKET HOLE CONSTITUTING A PIVOTAL CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID CRANK AND THE DRIVEN MEMBER AND PROHIBITING ANGULAR SHIFTING OF THE PIVOTAL CONNECTION BODILY RELATIVE TO THE DRIVEN MEMBER. 